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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27728593">Friends and Rivals</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selah/pseuds/Selah'>Selah</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pokefusion [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Initial'L (Band), Jrock, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Royz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crossovers &amp; Fandom Fusions, Gen, M/M, Satoshi (Initial'L) is a Very Earnest trainer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:49:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,247</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27728593</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selah/pseuds/Selah</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Thanks to the help of his friends, Satoshi is starting his Pokemon Trainer adventure. It's even mostly going as he expected. Sort of.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Satoshi (Initial'L) &amp; Tomoya (Royz) &amp; Kuina (Royz)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pokefusion [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1315940</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>VK Yaoi 2020 Challenges</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Friends and Rivals</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for VKY's November challenge (a fic inspired by a video game).<br/>Traditionally in the games, the PC's rival pretty much just declares himself (herself? I think it's always a male NPC, but I could be wrong, I've only played a couple of the games) your rival. Of course in the game you're also both supposed to be 11, so, you know, taking liberties as usual with this series. XD</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Satoshi held his breath, watching as the small red and white ball rocked and glowed. One, two, three, click. His sigh of relief was almost explosive. Caught.</p><p>“Hideto, come back,” he said, holding up his Piplup's ball. He couldn't help a smile as he tucked the modified Heal ball into his jacket pocket, then went to fetch his newest acquisition.</p><p>“You are <i>such</i> a rookie,” Tomoya teased. “Only you could get excited for a Caterpie catch.”</p><p>“I know, I know, they're dead easy and common as dirt,” Satoshi agreed, chuckling. “But come on, this is my first ever hunt! And only my third catch! Let a guy be happy!”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, okay, fine,” Tomoya agreed, still grinning. “Still don't see the point in catching it, though. Even as a Butterfree, they're not <i>that</i> great.”</p><p>“Maybe not, but that's not even really the point, right? Gotta catch 'em all!”</p><p>“Never going to happen,” Tomoya countered, shaking his head. “Just don't be surprised if I say told ya so when you try to battle with it and it loses horribly.”</p><p>“It's not <i>that</i> horrible,” Satoshi protested, though he still couldn't help a laugh. “Anyway, you saw what happened when I tried to use Shay on that Rattata. Until I can get zir to actually listen to me, I need more Pokemon besides Hideto or I'm never going to get a gym badge.”</p><p>“Hey, it's your journey; I'm just along for your mom's cooking.”</p><p>They both laughed at that; Satoshi's mom's cooking was terrible. But it was a rather nice Saturday, they both had the weekend free, and Tomoya had promised him the hiking trail around town would make for a good starting point for a rookie on his first Pokemon training challenge. And so far, even with the overabundance of Weedle, things … seemed to be going well? Satoshi had five Pokemon now, including his level seven Piplup and level forty Shaymin.</p><p>“Shaaaayyyyy.”</p><p>Satoshi looked up, then sighed in relief.</p><p>“There you are,” he said, trying to give Shay a stern look. “Have a nice romp?”</p><p>“Shay,” zie said with a little nod.</p><p>“Well that's good. I'd hate to think you went off on an adventure without me and then were bored.”</p><p>Zie tilted zir head to one side a moment then hopped up to float high enough to nuzzle Satoshi's cheek. It was so cute, he couldn't help but smile. A little yip and zie floated down to paw at his jacket pocket.</p><p>“All done, huh? Yeah, okay,” Satoshi said, pulling out zir Master ball. “Back in then.”</p><p>“You are <i>so</i> whipped….”</p><p>“What am I supposed to do?” he countered, laughing. “Zie does what zie wants. I'm just grateful zie bothered to come back! I wouldn't be able to look Hiyuu in the face again if I'd lost zir!”</p><p>“Yeah, like his <i>face</i> is even where you look most of the time anyway,” Tomoya teased, his laughter getting worse, presumably for the way Satoshi could feel his whole face turning red in embarrassment. “He <i>did</i> tell you Shay wasn't likely to listen to you yet.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. Can't really blame a guy for trying though, right?”</p><p>“Sure I can~” Tomoya said before picking up his pack again. “Come on; Kui said he'd meet us at the campground off marker eighteen. We should get going, or he's going to wonder what happened to us.”</p><p>“All right, all right. I promise, no more haring off into the tall grass.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Tomoya said, feigning solemnity. “Training is important, but so is friendship. And food. And since Kuina is a <i>much</i> better cook than your mother….”</p><p>“I said I'm coming! Yeesh! Keep your pants on!” Satoshi mock-protested as he collected his own gear.</p><p>“Sorry, senpai, but you're not my type.”</p><p>“Tomoya!”</p><p>They both laughed at the simplistic joke, Satoshi double-checking to be sure he had everything before they moved along. Tomoya could say what he liked, Satoshi was grateful for his Bug-type catches, even the Weedle. Today was turning out to be a good day.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Watching from behind some screening shrubbery, Koichi scowled at the men on the trail ahead of him. He had been stalking that Shaymin since he had first spotted it, waiting for the perfect place to try to catch it … only to find out now that it already had a trainer? Those two sure as hell didn't look like master trainers to him, though. In fact the redhead looked like some ridiculous overgrown kid, especially with that silly cap and jacket combination, like he was some kind of Pokemart superfan. Seriously, who the hell wore something like that as a twenty-something adult? Koichi was getting the secondhand creeps just witnessing someone his age dressed like that! What was wrong with him?? And why hadn't his friend burned that entire outfit? What kind of friend let a friend dress like that???</p><p>Koichi couldn't actually hear what the two were saying to each other, but from their body language, he was confident that these two were casuals. Hobbyist trainers out for a laugh, even with Superfan dressed like a ten-year-old trapped in a twenty-something body. How someone like that could have caught a Shaymin, he didn't know. But he was <i>going</i> to find out. He was going to find out everything there was to know about that guy and then. And then he was going to Take. Him Down. Casuals had no business having mythic Pokemon, even Shaymin. What did someone like that even do with a mythic Pokemon? Nothing, that's what. He <i>needed</i> to beat this guy and then take that Shaymin from him. </p><p>Shaymin might not be rare enough for the mythic label to be entirely accurate, but that didn't change how Koichi felt. A Pokemon like that deserved a trainer who would actually put it to good use. A trainer like him.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Tomoya had to admit he was impressed with Kuina's setup. The tent was going to be a little cozy with all three of them, but that was fine. They really only needed it as a place to sleep anyway, as protection from the elements. The tarp over a full on camp kitchen seemed a bit much, though, especially for three guys on a weekend hiking trip.</p><p>“Uh, Kuipup?”</p><p>“What? I like to cook!” the younger man said with an irrepressible grin. “I could even bake us a cake with this.”</p><p>“But it's just an overnight trip?”</p><p>“Doesn't mean we don't deserve good food!</p><p>“… you've got to be fucking kidding me. Glamping?? You're fucking <i>glampers</i>????”</p><p>Startled by the intrusion of a stranger on their conversation,, Tomoya glanced over his shoulder and almost did a comic double take. He was sure he would regret ever thinking it later, especially with the anger on his face, but the guy was actually kind of hot? But to see that level of anger aimed at Satoshi was just weird. <i>No one</i> took such an instant dislike to Satoshi, or at least he'd never seen it happen before, not even when Satoshi had to deal with irate customers. The redhead was too nice a guy, for one thing.</p><p>“How the hell did some casual fucking <i>glampers</i> capture a mythical Pokemon??” their uninvited guest demanded. “You. You aren't even anybody. You don't deserve a Shaymin; you haven't earned the right, dammit. Hand it over.”</p><p>“Uh … no? That's not even how this works,” Satoshi said, frowning. “You can't just … look, whether you think I earned Shay or not, zie came back to <i>me</i>, so no, I'm not handing zir over to you just because you think you know anything about me. Which you don't.”</p><p>“Wait, did senpai actually try to capture a local Pokemon with a Shaymin? Senpai! What were you thinking? Shay would one-shot anything on this trail!” Kuina said, almost entirely ignoring their pink-haired intruder. Which went over about as well as one might expect.</p><p>“Hey, don't ignore me! I'm challenging you here, Glamper!”</p><p>“I was trying not to notice,” Satoshi said, and Tomoya had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. “And my name's Satoshi, not Glamper. Anyway, I'm not interested in a duel, and you can't force me to duel you, so just … go back to your own campsite, yeah? I don't want any trouble.”</p><p>“Dammit, face me, you coward!” the pink-haired stranger said, gripping a pokeball especially tightly.</p><p>“I already said no,” Satoshi said, turning his back on the younger man.</p><p>Tomoya had to admit he felt a bit bad for the guy. He couldn't be much more than Kuina's age and had clearly spent a good chunk of the last few years as a serious professional trainer, though if he was still hanging around here, then probably still doing regionals. He also clearly had firm ideas about what sort of person deserved to be a trainer, and while Tomoya didn't agree with him, he could sort of understand why someone who had spent half his life dedicated to training Pokemon, and maybe hadn't yet caught a Shaymin himself, might feel insulted to come across someone like Satoshi.</p><p>“This isn't over, Glamper. You haven't see the last of me,” the younger man grumbled before stomping away.</p><p>“Well that was just weird,” Kuina said, shaking his head a little. “What was that guy's problem, anyway? Didn't even tell us his name!”</p><p>“Jealousy,” Tomoya said, taking a seat at their site's picnic table. “Sounds like he spotted Shay while zie was running free earlier and tracked zir back to us, not expecting zir to already be tamed. Ish.”</p><p>“He was so angry about it, too. Makes me feel bad for him,” Satoshi admitted, sitting down across from him. “Still not going to battle him, but I feel bad. Whoever he is, he's obviously spent a lot of time and energy on training.”</p><p>“Well, I guess you've got yourself an official rival now,” Kuina said, grinning. “That should be fun. I had one for a hot minute back in the day; she hated my guts for a solid month. Turned out she was mad cuz I'd gotten the last Chimchar from our Professor. Which was funny cuz he was kind of a dim bulb, but, you know, we made a trade and everything was fine.”</p><p>“Uh, I'm <i>not</i> trading Shay to that guy,” Satoshi said, brow wrinkling a bit.</p><p>“Damn straight you aren't!” Kuina agreed. “Just because that's how I resolved <i>my</i> problem doesn't mean I think you should do the same thing. Shay really came back to you?”</p><p>“All by zirself,” Satoshi said with a nod. “You know, after laughing at me for trying to get zir to attack a Rattata and then taking off.”</p><p>“Seriously? Oh senpai….”</p><p>“I know, I know, boneheaded move on my part,” Satoshi conceded. “I was curious what zie would do?”</p><p>“But a Rattata? Really?” Kuina countered, visibly trying not to laugh. “You're <i>lucky</i> zie came back to your stupid ass. I'm not sure I would have in zir place, you pulling a move like that.”</p><p>“Okay, okay, I get it; I'm an idiot who doesn't deserve nice things,” Satoshi muttered, his shoulders slumping in defeat.</p><p>“I'm sure he didn't mean it like that, Toshi,” Tomoya countered, shooting Kuina a quick glare.</p><p>“What? Oh come on, of course I didn't mean it like that, senpai!” the younger man said, a grimace flickering across his face. “You're just a noob is all. I'm sure you'll be a great trainer. Shay clearly thinks so, too, coming back like that.”</p><p>“You really think so?” Satoshi asked, biting his lip as if he didn't quite dare believe.</p><p>“Definitely,” Kuina said with a little nod. “Don't worry about that guy, senpai. Yan's right, he's probably just jealous. We'll get you a good starting team this weekend, and then maybe by next weekend you can get everyone trained up enough to tackle the local gym? At least after that Shay will … <i>probably</i> actually listen to you?”</p><p>“I hope so. It's too embarrassing to have zir in my pocket and know there's nothing I can do but wait because if I try to battle with zir, zie might just laugh at me again. I really don't know why Hiyuu gave Shay to me in the first place.”</p><p>“It kinda sounded like it was Shay's idea,” Tomoya said, chuckling. “But also … Shay's a carrot.”</p><p>“Uh, no zie isn't.”</p><p>“Not literally!” Tomoya said, laughing again. “But think about it. If you just had Hideto and I just had Akihide, you'd probably have volunteered to work a double again this weekend and I'd've been right there with you. This way you have a concrete reason for pressing to get at least that first gym badge under your belt.”</p><p>“Okay, yeah, I guess that's true,” Satoshi agreed. “Camping out is way better than working all weekend. And I guess … I guess I owe it to Hiyuu and Shay both to get a good team together and get to work on being a great trainer, sooner rather than later.”</p><p>“You can do it!” Kuina said with a grin of encouragement. “We all will. You'll see.”</p><p>“We all will,” Tomoya echoed, nodding.</p><p>So what if they were all on the old side to be just starting out as trainers (again)? Never give up on your dreams, that's what everybody always said. Tomoya wasn't really looking to be a Master Trainer anymore, but he wouldn't mind collecting a few gym badges with his new Riolu. The real adventure was the friends he was already making along the way.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>In a deleted scene from between #1 and the start of this fic, Satoshi and Tomoya meet up with Hiyuu again and Hiyuu figures out which Pokemon Satoshi got in the first fic (a Piplup already named Hideto) and then gives the two starter packs, with Tomoya's pack having a level 5 Riolu Tomoya then names Akihide.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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